Brands: Connective Tissue Between People and Tech

Brands are now just as likely to invest in everyday tools, services and life-hacks as they are traditional marketing campaigns. The most trusted brands are already behaving like lifestyle and wellbeing partners.

If you're the kind of person who thinks advertising is a dirty word, maybe this panel will change your mind. Leo Burnett's Global Head of Social and Mobile James Kirkham and Contagious' North American editorial director Nick Parish will step into the immediate future to identify miraculous innovations that will quickly be brought into the mainstream by brands.

Yes, you heard right. If brands start to divert some of their media dollars into democratizing space age technology, many of the techno-miracles you read about will soon become part of the mainstream.

In this panel we will explore how marketers strive to solve some of the pain points in people's lives by scaling innovation and becoming the connective tissue between amazing new technologies and real people.

Hashtags

#sxsw #connective

Presenters

James Kirkham

Global Head of Social & Mobile

Arc Worldwide/Leo Burnett

James Kirkham is Leo Burnett Worldwide’s Global Head of Mobile and Social. Kirkham leads the combined social media and mobile capabilities of the advertising network, which has clients including P&...

James Kirkham is Leo Burnett Worldwide’s Global Head of Mobile and Social. Kirkham leads the combined social media and mobile capabilities of the advertising network, which has clients including P&G, McDonald’s, Coca Cola, and Kellogg’s and operates across 97 offices, in 84 countries, worldwide.

Kirkham was co-founder of Holler, the digital strategy agency he formed in February 2001 with business partner Will Pyne. Following Kirkham’s promotion this year, Holler expanded from its UK office into Leo Burnett offices around the world, starting with Chicago and Silicon Valley.

Holler’s clients include, The Co-operative, Mercedes-Benz, P&G, Vitamin Water and Red Bull. New Media Age listed Holler as 'ones to watch' in their Top 100 guide, and wrote that Holler has “one of the most impressive client lists in the UK”.

A longtime journalist and editor, Nick Parish helps run London-based Contagious in North America. Nick works on Contagious’ award-winning quarterly briefing book, frequent special reports, web platforms and client-based consulting projects, all focusing on turning emerging innovative technology and marketing into future-facing business intelligence. He’s spoken at dozens of leading industry events including the Cannes Lions, SXSW Interactive, IDEA, CaT: Creativity and Technology, Yahoo! Provoke Summit, CreateTech, FutureFlash, Interesting New York and his work has been published in the New York Post, New York magazine, Advertising Age, Creativity, Slam, Comstock’s, Mashable and the Globe & Mail. He resides in Brooklyn and enjoys fly fishing, dystopian fiction and any music that sounds like it could have come from Detroit.